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Owner-managed businesses / 76 posts found

A picture of a lone poppy flower in a field

The importance of good leadership in a crisis

by mike tombs
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When the going gets tough, your role as leader becomes even more important to the future survival, recovery and success of the business. As we’ve seen during the recent coronavirus pandemic, the 2008 economic crash and many previous downturns, having a strong leader at the helm serves to give your people and strategy some real purpose – allowing you to make the right decisions, weather the storm and guide the business along the correct course. So, what does good leadership in a crisis look like? And what steps can you take to become the role model, strategic thinker and leader [...]

Stress and how to combat it

by mike tombs
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Stress is one of the problems of the modern world. Some stress is necessary for us to achieve anything. If everything is effortless and easy we learn nothing, and gain no satisfaction, so some element of stress is important to us to function. However, bad stress, is exactly that; bad. Stress is one of the perils of running your own business. Do you feel pulled in too many directions, spread too thin, unable to plan forward, always fire-fighting? These feelings all contribute towards stress. Running a business relies on you being able to plan ahead, to have vision, and implement [...]

What’s in a name?

by mike tombs
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Is it possible to register a trading name for an existing business? Sole traders and partnerships You can trade under your own name, or you can choose another name for your business. You don’t need to register your name.   You must include your name and business name (if you have one) on official paperwork, for example invoices and letters.   Sole trader names must not:   include ‘limited’, ‘Ltd’, ‘limited liability partnership’, ‘LLP’, ‘public limited company’ or ‘plc’ be offensive be the same as an existing trade mark   Your name also can’t contain a ‘sensitive’ word or expression, or [...]

Good foundations

by mike tombs
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All good structures are built on good foundations, whether we are talking houses or companies. Good foundations in houses rely on bricks and mortar, whilst good foundations in companies rely on good founders. We have pulled together some top tips to help you be a brilliant founder. Get along with your co-founders: obviously we can’t get along with people all the time, and disagreement is a healthy part of every relationship. However, toxicity isn’t. Learn how to accept constructive feedback, and how to give it! No-one likes to be criticised but feedback is essential to improve. Pull the trigger: it [...]

Take control of your time

by mike tombs
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Apparently, we spend less than 60% of our time working productively. That’s nearly half our day we waste on activities such as checking social media, checking emails, having dead-end meetings. Imagine what you could do with half a day, every day. Go for a walk, cook a nice meal, spend time with your family, read a book. No doubt one of the reasons that you started your own business was to be able to be flexible with your time, take the odd afternoon off, start late on a morning, take a long holiday. It’s unlikely that you started your own [...]

Do you know what you are selling?

by mike tombs
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We hope that you know what you are selling: watches, cars, hedge cutters…we hope that your accountant knows what you are selling also. But do they? You aren’t selling watches, you are stopping people being late. You aren’t selling cars, you are helping people get from A to B. You aren’t selling hedge cutters, you are tidying people’s gardens. For example, you own and run a bakery. You believe your business is selling bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Of course, people love bread, cakes, pastries and pies, so they’ll buy them. Right? Wrong. Lots of bakeries go bust. Why? Because [...]

Are you doing too much?

by mike tombs
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As small business owners, we all do it! We take on too much; we do too much. We’re always saying, “there’s never enough time in the day!” But are we being productive? Or are we running around, sweat pouring out of every vein, doing tasks others could do for us? Are we always thinking about saving money, rather than the bigger picture? Is your accountant always on at you to reduce costs? But at what cost? You probably didn’t go into business to work every waking hour. You may have gone into business for the flexibility, so that you could [...]

Adaptability is the key to success

by mike tombs
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Every day we meet people whose small businesses are struggling; either the business is stalled or heading towards closure. I see the same facial expressions frustration, fear and inner turmoil. And I hear the same words – I don’t know what to do! Time and again we resist the temptation to wish that they had come to us earlier. But often it was beyond their control. If you see your accountant once a year and your business has been slowly sliding downhill over that year, you are in a very vulnerable situation. If you work with your accountant throughout the [...]

HMRC launch further Help-to-Save consultation

by M Tombs
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Following an earlier period of consultation, HMRC have published draft legislation along- side a further technical consultation document, setting out proposals for the main features, processes and requirements of the new Help-to-Save accounts scheme, which is set to commence in 2018. Help-to-Save will be targeted at working families on low incomes to help them build up their savings. The scheme will be open to around 4 million individuals who either receive universal credit and have minimum weekly household earnings equivalent to 16 hours at the national living wage, or receive Working Tax Credit (WTC). Help-to-Save will work by providing a [...]

Getting ready for GDPR

by M Tombs
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The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will replace the existing Data Protection Act (DPA), takes effect from 25 May 2018. UK organisations that process the personal data of EU residents need to ensure systems are in place by then to enable compliance with new requirements. The GDPR is more extensive in scope and application than the current DPA. The Regulation extends the data rights of individuals, and requires organisations to develop clear policies and procedures to protect personal data, and adopt appropriate technical and organisational measures. The GDPR introduces a number of key changes for organisations including: the [...]